WIRTH v. CORNING

DISTRICT COURT OF THE UNITED STATES FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

February 18, 1948

WIRTH et al.
v.
CORNING, Superintendent of Schools

The opinion of the court was delivered by: LETTS

The adult plaintiffs are residents of the State of Maryland and were and now are employed officially or otherwise in the District of Columbia; they bring this action for themselves and in behalf of their minor children, who reside with their parents. The defendant is the Superintendent of Schools in the District of Columbia and has supervision in all matters relating to the education of children entitled to the benefits of the public school system of the District of Columbia.

It appears without dispute that each of the minor plaintiffs had, on or before July 25, 1947, applied for enrollment as a pupil in the Woodrow Wilson High School, an institution under the supervision of the defendant; that each of such minor plaintiffs entered said High School at the opening of the Fall term in September, 1942, and has since been in constant attendance at the classes to which assigned.

Title XXXI, Sec. 303, District of Columbia Code 1940, provides as follows:

'All pupils whose parents are employed officially or otherwise in the District of Columbia shall be admitted and taught free of charge in the schools of said District.'

As of January 27, 1948 the defendant by letters addressed to the parents required the withdrawal of the minor plaintiffs as students in the school as of January 30, 1948, the mid-year period, unless provision be made for the payment of tuition fees for the forthcoming mid-term to commence on February 2, 1948.

The defendant agrees that the minor plaintiffs would be taught free of charge had not Congress withdrawn from them the right and privilege which plaintiffs assert. He says that unless the tuition bills are paid there is no alternative but to drop the minor plaintiffs from the rolls of the school. In justification of this stand he points to a proviso of the District of Columbia Appropriation Act for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1948, approved July 25, 1947, 62 Stat. 433, which provides in part as follows:

'No part of the appropriations herein made for the public schools of the District of Columbia shall be used for the free instruction of pupils who dwell outside the District of Columbia: Provided, That this limitation shall not apply to pupils who are enrolled in the schools of the District of Columbia on the date of the approval of this Act.'

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